IF EVEN ICE CREAM AND CAKE don't guarantee smiling cherub faces at your child's birthday party, it may be time to create a "CynSation" with party props made by Pasadena artist Cynthia James. Alice, the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat complete an Alice in Wonderland theme, while clowns and balloon-toting bears create the classic circus atmosphere. James rents her colorful, papier- mache props for $20 to $100 a day.

In 1964, Jong Sook Kim visited Disneyland. It was no ordinary trip for the 14-year-old. Doctors once thought she would never see again, but after she traveled from her native South Korea to San Francisco for surgery, her sight was restored -- and she got a personal invitation from Walt Disney to visit the happiest place on earth. A moment from that day, of Kim with "Alice in Wonderland" characters the Mad Hatter, Alice and the White Rabbit, that was taken for the Los Angeles Times' article about her, is captured in one of our vintage Disneyland photos above.

FBI agents said in Mount Laurel that they had arrested a serial bank robber dubbed the "Mad Hatter." James G. Madison, 50, was ordered held without bail. Authorities believe he is responsible for a number of bank robberies, all while wearing an array of hats. "Although he's charged in one robbery, he's a suspect in as many as 18," Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark McCarren told a federal magistrate in asking that bail be denied.

In "Once Upon a Time" this week (in an episode entitled "We Are Both"), Charming takes control, we find out what happened to Cora (Regina's evil mom), and Regina gets her powers back. There's the general; here's some of the specifics: The boundary of Storybrooke: With magic back in Storybrooke, it stands to reason that people would want to know what's going on with the world outside. Leave it to the dwarfs to be the ones to discover it: If a Storybrooke resident leaves the town, they will be back under the town's curse -- not remembering their fairy-tale lives.

The Scene: A fund-raiser for the Mad Hatter espresso coffee bar/performance club at another coffeehouse, Highland Grounds. Proceeds are to help the now-closed Hatter upgrade to meet city building regulations. (The 20-year-old owners of the Hatter "didn't go the permit route" when they opened eight months ago, said benefit organizer Mariette Peeters.

For Lindsey Upp, joy is a hat. Hats make him happy. He collects baseball-style caps like other people collect stamps, coins, guns, beer steins, pins, butterflies, jigsaw puzzles. So far, he has gathered 343 hats from all over the country. They hang like cloudy trophies from the rafters of his pool room. "He's my Mad Hatter," his wife, Iris, fondly told a visitor.

They're not clowns. Nor year-round trick-or-treaters. The participants in a new fashion phenomenon sweeping the Southland's fringe are certified ravers . Their uniforms consist of clownlike baggy pants, cartoon-color T-shirts and, to top them off, "Alice in Wonderland"-inspired top hats. Ravers, mainly teen-agers and twentysomethings, attend the dance-'til-dawn underground parties, known as raves, that are also boffo in Southern California.

Johnny Depp is slated to play two iconic roles in films for the Walt Disney Co.: the Mad Hatter in a remake of "Alice in Wonderland" and Tonto in a big-screen version of "The Lone Ranger." And he's not the only star on Disney's roster. At a showcase of its upcoming projects Wednesday at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, the studio also said that Jim Carrey is performing seven parts in a 3-D motion-capture remake of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and that Oprah Winfrey would provide one of the voices in the hand-drawn animated movie "The Princess and the Frog," which features an African American heroine, Tiana, played by Anika Noni Rose.

Re "Fight at Immigration Rallies Hurts 1, Closes Street," July 5: It was inevitable that the pro- and anti-Proposition 187 emotions would boil over into the spectacle that we witnessed over the Fourth of July at the Federal Building in Westwood. Hopefully, we have seen the end of this, but don't take any bets on it unless you get outrageous odds. No matter how many border guards we employ, the results will change very little when an illegal immigrant, from whatever country, knows that by giving birth to an automatic citizen chances are slim to none that deportation will ever be faced.

In 2010, Hollywood films will go down the rabbit hole with a Mad Hatter, ascend to the magical realm of Mount Olympus where mighty Zeus still rules, and revisit Sherwood Forest where, this time, a former "Gladiator" is the one notching the arrows. Fans of the fantastic will be able to pick their pack when it comes to werewolves, suit up with a familiar Marvel superhero or watch Angelina Jolie reload in another spy vs. spy adventure. It's also a big year for sword-fighting with "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" in February, "Clash of the Titans," starring "Avatar's" Sam Worthington, on March 26, and "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," starring Jake Gyllenhaal and based on the video game, on May 28. Will one of those magic movies become the box-office heir to "Harry Potter"?

The clean, crisp modern lines of "Tron" have been replaced by the chaotic, rose-colored acid trip of "Alice in Wonderland," but outside of an extensive cosmetic makeover, little has changed now that Disney California Adventure has rethemed its nightly dance party from ElecTRONica to the Mad T Party. PHOTOS: Mad T Party at Disney California Adventure The shiny new look seems tailor-made for the short attention spans of the wall-to-wall under-25 crowd of mostly high school and college kids who have made the alcohol-infused and music-centric outdoor rave a wildly popular success at the Anaheim theme park.

How about an IOU? Re "GOP revolt derails debt bill in House," July 29, and "Countdown on Debt Crisis," July 29 Dear Congress: Last year I mismanaged my funds, and this year my family and I cannot decide on a budget. Until we have come to a unified decision that fits all of our needs and interests, we will have to shut down our checkbook and will no longer be able to pay our taxes. I'm sure you will understand. Thank you very much for setting an example we can all follow.

More than a children's classic, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," the 1865 book by Lewis Carroll, is ground zero for a multi-tentacled media franchise that has been going strong for nearly 150 years. The Victorian forebear of a variety of 20th century artistic movements, drug cultures and fashion trends, it has inspired untold authors and musicians, served as the basis for dozens of film and television versions, and been tailored and twisted to fit almost every narrative form imaginable, from musical theater to soft-core porn to video game.

In 2010, Hollywood films will go down the rabbit hole with a Mad Hatter, ascend to the magical realm of Mount Olympus where mighty Zeus still rules, and revisit Sherwood Forest where, this time, a former "Gladiator" is the one notching the arrows. Fans of the fantastic will be able to pick their pack when it comes to werewolves, suit up with a familiar Marvel superhero or watch Angelina Jolie reload in another spy vs. spy adventure. It's also a big year for sword-fighting with "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" in February, "Clash of the Titans," starring "Avatar's" Sam Worthington, on March 26, and "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," starring Jake Gyllenhaal and based on the video game, on May 28. Will one of those magic movies become the box-office heir to "Harry Potter"?

CAST: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter. Directed by Tim Burton. BACK STORY: There's no mistaking the singular surrealism of Lewis Carroll, but despite the familiar faces on the movie posters it would be a mistake to call Burton's vision a pure adaptation of the author's 19th century writings or even a live-action remake of Walt Disney's 1951 animated film. "It's a completely different and new story, but it has a lot of the same characters in it," said Wasikowska, the 20-year-old Aussie who portrays Burton's older Alice.

When Tim Burton, one of Hollywood's most distinctive directors, came to Comic-Con International last week with never-before-seen footage from his upcoming adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland," the audience at the San Diego Convention Center went wild at the sight of Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and other beloved characters from Lewis Carroll's surreal storybook classic. The rapturous applause, however, did little to assuage Burton's anxiety.

In 1964, Jong Sook Kim visited Disneyland. It was no ordinary trip for the 14-year-old. Doctors once thought she would never see again, but after she traveled from her native South Korea to San Francisco for surgery, her sight was restored -- and she got a personal invitation from Walt Disney to visit the happiest place on earth. A moment from that day, of Kim with "Alice in Wonderland" characters the Mad Hatter, Alice and the White Rabbit, that was taken for the Los Angeles Times' article about her, is captured in one of our vintage Disneyland photos above.

The Peter Pan Players' production of "Alice in Wonderland" has enough whimsy and magic to make Lewis Carroll proud. The troupe's staging at Iglesia Community Park in Laguna Hills follows Alice's fantasy romp through day-glo daisies, past a smiling Cheshire cat, a bellowing queen and a break-dancing king. Directed by Saul Siedman, the show includes 58 local children, some of whom shared characters with another cast that took over after intermission. The one-hour show, targeted for very young children, featured Courtney Weber and Monica Bromberg as Alice, Kimberly Reed as the White Rabbit, Angela Gage as the Queen of Hearts and Nathaniel Dawkins as the King.

Johnny Depp is slated to play two iconic roles in films for the Walt Disney Co.: the Mad Hatter in a remake of "Alice in Wonderland" and Tonto in a big-screen version of "The Lone Ranger." And he's not the only star on Disney's roster. At a showcase of its upcoming projects Wednesday at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, the studio also said that Jim Carrey is performing seven parts in a 3-D motion-capture remake of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and that Oprah Winfrey would provide one of the voices in the hand-drawn animated movie "The Princess and the Frog," which features an African American heroine, Tiana, played by Anika Noni Rose.